In the processing of substrates, for example, semiconductor wafers for manufacturing semiconductor devices such as integrated circuits, the substrates need to be placed on substrate supports, for example so-called chucks, for processing. In many applications, it is desirable to automatize this placing of substrates on a substrate support for example to increase a throughput of the manufacturing process.
One approach used in the semiconductor industry is to place the substrate on lift pins extending from the substrate support and then to retract the lift pins into holes in the substrate support thereby lowering the substrate on the substrate support. In conventional approaches, often the holes in the substrate support have a significantly greater diameter than the lift pins used e.g. to prevent friction of the lift pin on the substrate support. Therefore, part of the hole remains open when the substrate is lowered on the substrate support. In some applications, for example plasma-based etching, this can lead to etching radicals reaching the backside of the substrate at the holes and therefore to a backside etching of the substrate, which may be undesirable under some circumstances.